


The Great Adventure

by Bofur1



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Breakfast Surprise, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hair Braiding, Light-Hearted, One Big Happy Family, Surprises, Traveling Songs, ponies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 19:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1136368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Bofur1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“Strange,” Balin remarked thoughtfully. “This entire Quest we haven’t even thought about birthdays!”<em></em></em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the snippets of the song at the end, it belongs to Steven C. Chapman! :)

Bilbo gave a quiet sigh when he woke and saw the sky above was a dreary gray.

“Wouldn’t it figure that my birthday is a gloomy day?” he sighed sadly as he sat up and stretched his aching back, not really caring who listened to him. “Fifty-one years old I am today...”

Thorin interrupted his mumblings, barking at the Company to get a move-on and eat breakfast, then ready the ponies for another full day of riding. Bilbo groaned under his breath.

“And I’m to spend it _riding_. Not even an old Hobbit and I feel like I’m eleventy-one!”

After breakfast, when Bilbo reached for his pack so he could hang it on Myrtle’s saddle-horn, he found it was not on the rock where he’d placed it. Instead it was on the ground, the top unsnapped and flapping. Concerned that Nori had gotten into his things, Bilbo peered in—and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Nestled amongst the folds of his spare clothing sat a little wooden box tied with thread. Glancing around, Bilbo saw that none of the Dwarves were watching him. Was this from Gandalf or something? The Hobbit quickly reached in and untied the thread, lifting the lid to peer inside. His heart took flight and soared into his throat as emotion clutched him.

A slightly frayed but perfectly folded pocket-handkerchief.

Bilbo ran quivering fingers over the soft cloth, eyes wide as he tried to blink away tears. Who had given him such a thoughtful gift?

“What’s that you’ve got there, Bilbo?” Fíli asked curiously, startling the Hobbit.

Slamming the box closed, Bilbo sputtered, “Nothing!” Then, thinking that perhaps he was speaking to the gift-giver, he took on a more gentle tone. “It’s, ah, a pocket-handkerchief.”

“But didn’t you forget yours? I thought that’s why Bofur gave you a piece of his...well...” Fíli pressed his lips together as his face took on color. “His... _under-cloth_.”

Bilbo flushed too. “Well, it turns out someone in the Company was thoughtful enough to give me his.”

Kíli, who had been listening, reached for the box. “Can I see? Maybe they put their initials in the stitching and we can see who it was!”

Cautiously Bilbo handed it over and Kíli pulled out the handkerchief, handling it with surprising care. Upon unfolding it, understanding lit Kíli’s eyes.

“Ohhh. That’s typical, isn’t it, Fee?” He showed the initials to Fíli, who nodded.

“Who’s it from?” Bilbo asked anxiously.

“Dori,” Kíli announced, leaning forward to show Bilbo. “See? D.F. That means ‘Dori, son of Fori’. But why would he give it to you today?”

“It’s my birthday today,” Bilbo stammered, overwhelmed by grateful thoughts toward Dori.

Fíli and Kíli gaped. “Why didn’t you tell us?!” Fíli gasped. Immediately he leapt to his feet and shouted, “It’s the Hobbit’s birthday!”

The entire Company turned as one at the sound of Fíli’s voice and called, “Mahal’s blessings on your day, Master Burglar!”

Bilbo turned crimson. “U-Uh, thank you!” Clearly not wanting it to be a big deal, Bilbo walked swiftly to his pony and hoisted himself up. Thorin followed suit quickly, as did the rest of the Dwarves. Casual conversation on the subject continued.

“Strange,” Balin remarked thoughtfully. “This entire Quest we haven’t even thought about birthdays!”

“We’ve been so busy thinkin’ ’bout Erabor,” Bofur agreed, receiving a sour look from Thorin that he didn’t notice.

“Khi omênu?” Bifur asked Bofur in a surprised tone. At the blank look he got, he began speaking with his hands. _It wasn’t you? My birthday was three weeks ago and when I went to polish Innla’s shoes I found they already had been. I thought it was either you or Bombur..._

Bofur’s brows furrowed. “Who’d polish yer pony’s shoes fer ye?”

“Well, there’s not much else one can do for a birthday gift out here in the wild,” Balin pointed out.

Bilbo fingered the soft handkerchief tucked into his pocket. He had an idea who had taken notice of Bifur’s needing pony, but he said nothing.

^~^~^

That evening Bilbo approached the younger of the Brothers Ri. “Excuse me,” he said hastily, “but I wondered if you could tell me Dori’s birthday.”

“Next Thursday,” Nori said immediately, not looking up from the knife he was polishing.

“Why do you want to know?” Ori asked in bewilderment.

Bilbo stuttered a bit. “I—I found a birthday present in my pack from Dori and I was wondering when I could repay him for it. What...what exactly would he like?”

“He doesn’t really like anything,” Ori replied with an uncertain shrug. “Usually he just says that giving gifts to us is enough for him. I often try to surprise him, but he starts fussing.”

Bilbo frowned slightly. “Can’t we do something for him this time? I mean, he’s seemed rather down, what with all the rain and such.”

Nori lifted his head when he heard that part, narrowing his eyes at Dori, who was helping Bombur ladle soup into bowls. Then his eyes shifted to Bofur, to Glóin, to Bifur, to Balin, to Thorin, back to Dori, and then up at Bilbo.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he announced. Even in the dim light Bilbo caught the strange gleam in Nori’s eyes and knew that whatever it was, it was in better hands than his.

^~^~^

This was just too strange to be coincidence, Dori decided with a troubled frown.

First he had gone to polish his hair clips before beginning to weave his braids, only to find them polished so thoroughly that even the young princes would have wanted to wear them. They did ask but eventually slunk away, cowed by the combined power of Dori’s and Thorin’s glowers.

After that, he’d gone for his bowl of breakfast porridge and found that instead, in the middle of his bowl, was a buttered raisin cake. Since when were resources so stretchable as to make raisin cakes with butter? And who had known he liked them?

The third surprise came when he saw his pony. Ganten’s mane had been brushed to a shine and then braided in a style that Dori found to be strangely familiar. Having a sudden suspicion, Dori checked Ganten’s horseshoes. Sure enough, they were spotless.

When he found his pack organized down to the last little tea-leaf jar, Dori cried, “What in Durin’s name is going on?!”

Nori whirled with a dagger at the ready but lowered it with an exasperated sigh when he saw that the only thing that had alarmed his brother was the contents of his pack. “Dori, don’t shout so loud,” he snapped. “We can’t risk drawing anything—”

“What he means to say,” Dwalin cut in sharply, “is...erm...” He cleared his throat and glanced meaningfully at Balin, who rolled his eyes.

“For heavens’ sake, you two, you can’t just say it?”

“Can’t anyone?” Ori demanded.

Bofur began massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Someone just spit it out!” Glóin commanded.

“Mahalu-dayamu...” Bifur started stammering, but no one understood or even paid attention to him.

“Enough!” Thorin hollered. Landing regally down from his shouting-vantage point, he approached the utterly bewildered Dori, put a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, “Mahal’s blessings on your day.”

Then he swept off again, just as regal and aloof as ever. Bofur, wanting to defuse the very peculiar and awkward situation, leapt onto a rock and began belting out a song.

“ _Saddle up yer horse-e-e-e-s, we’ve got a trail t’ blaze!_ ”

“ _Wh-o-o-a-a!_ ” Shockingly it was Ori who bellowed out the addition.

“ _Through the wild blue yonder..._ ” Other voices took up the song as they went off to mount their steeds.

Dori decided that, if this was Mahal’s blessing on his day, it was a strange one. A very strange one indeed, but still surprisingly fun and thoughtful of the others. Therefore he couldn’t help but sing along.

“ _Let’s follow our leader into the glorious unknown—_ ”

“ _—To the glorious unknown—!_ ”

“ _This is a life like no other—wh-o-o-a, this is the Great Adventure!_ ”

 


End file.
